Title: Suikoden
Company: Konami
Genre: RPG
Platform: Playstation
Release Date: 11/1/1996

Synopsis: As the son of the greatest general in the Scarlet Moon Empire, “Tir” Mcdohl joins the military in order to follow in his father’s footsteps. One day while his father is away on an assignment, Tir goes on his own mission as a new recruit along with his servants and a friend. But as he ventures outside the boundaries of his home empire, he finds that the world outside is in need of help from his own emperor.

The Highlights
Plot: Simple yet deep.
Sound: Takes some getting used to.
Visuals: Detailed backgrounds.
Gameplay: Exciting battles.

In 1997, Konami was trying to make a come-back to the game industry after a long slump of unfulfilling projects. That slump ended abruptly with the release of one of the best RPGs of the time as well as the beginning of an ongoing popular franchise. Suikoden was originally released under the popularity radar because of the coinciding releases of other games such as Wild Arms and the revolutionary title Final Fantasy VII. After playing Suikoden, fans were astonished to see what they almost missed out on.

The plot of this game is simple in essence where your main concern is to overthrow a tyrannical empire. But what makes this game deep is the connecting references to the past as well as the future with the latter games of the series. Konami doesn’t just throw in the numerous characters to fill space. Every single person has a certain self-importance along with a unique past. Some examples of purposes are people joining the war because of something that happened in a previous event or to search for someone or something. The many reasons carry on through the overall storyline as the series progresses; where every plot of the Suikoden series takes place in the same world.

For the first time I see a turn-based battle system with six overall combatants for the player’s use in this game. At first I wasn’t sure how this would work but I was proven wrong. Suikoden has it so the number of characters on the screen doesn’t slow the speed of the battle at all with characters moving simultaneously. This gives way to a nice presentation of teamwork as well as some cool animations. One noteworthy feature is the combination attack system; where, like in Chrono Trigger, characters team up to perform uniquely devastating attacks/spells.

Graphics are ok when compared to other RPGs of the time. Backgrounds are the game’s biggest visual strength with detail galore along with the spell animations that are a joy to watch. Great music makes Suikoden easy on the ears as well while you’re playing. After a while, however, the same music can get a bit repetitive. The sound effects may sound weird at first, but you’ll get used to it as they seem to fit the game.

Suikoden alone is a great game to play for some casual enjoyment. It has all of the elements to make a great game stand on it’s own two feet. However, I know Suikoden fans around the world would agree that this is a great game to play along with the rest of the legacy of fascinating stories. With each game in the series acting as a chapter of a great book, I hope to continue enjoying this series for a very long time.

The Rating: 8

Reviewed by: Blazer